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On tap: A brawl over liquor regulations

THE CITY COUNCIL and the License Commission are poised for a battle of wills this week.

The three-member commission will take up approving new rules and regulations on Thursday at 7 p.m., but before that meeting the council will discuss the rules for the second week in a row.

And on Tuesday's agenda is City Councilor Ed Kennedy's motion requesting the council ask the License Commission to delete two of the proposed rules in the package it will vote on.

Kennedy wants the panel to strip from the general conditions applying to all bars the items preventing entry or re-entry into a liquor establishment starting one hour before closing and requiring that entertainment end 45 minutes prior to closing.

"I would like the council to take a vote and send a message to the License Commission, and for the commission to well receive the council's vote when making a decision on these two provisions," said Kennedy.

The councilor has proposed that the two rules instead be considered as special conditions which could be applied to bars that pose problems.

"There are only a couple problem establishments in the city, so the re-entry and entertainment rules should only be used when corrective action is needed," said Kennedy, adding that many bars cause no issues.

But License Commission Chairman Brian Akashian said the commission won't be bound by whatever the council does Tuesday.

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"The City Council can give us any direction they want, but we have the final say," said Akashian.

The chairman said he is pleased with the package of rules the commission is bringing forth to a public hearing, calling the proposed changes a compromise between all stakeholders involved.

He also said the new rules, which the council has sought, were crafted with input from the city's Law Department and Police Department at the meetings.

Akashian also said he's not impressed that Kennedy has gone public, rather than stating his objections at their meetings.

"I find it interesting we had five hearings on these rules and the only councilor to come to any of them was Councilor Rita Mercier to speak about fees for veterans clubs," said Akashian. "We never heard from Ed Kennedy."

Akashian said rather than "weighing in at the 11th hour," Kennedy should have attended a meeting or called him to express his feelings.

"He knows where I work and he has my number," Akashian said. "He did not have to go filing a motion."

PART OF Kennedy's frustration with the re-entry and entertainment rules applying to all bars is that they were special conditions in the original package of updated license regulations the council endorsed in February 2012 after the brawl at Fortunato's.

City Solicitor Christine O'Connor disagreed with Kennedy on that point at Tuesday's council meeting, but a review of the 2012 rules proposal shows Kennedy is correct.

The original proposed regulations also allowed bars to seek waivers from the special conditions. There are no waivers in the current rules.

Akashian said the License Commission adopted the Police Department's recommendation that some of the special conditions be turned into general conditions.

He said if the rules allowed some bars to get waivers it would be a challenge to enforce the regulations. The commission would also have to schedule a hearing on every request.

ANOTHER HOT topic that will draw debate for the second week in a row is the issue of expired appointments and vacancies on the Lowell Memorial Auditorium Board of Trustees.

City Councilor Rodney Elliott raised the issue at Tuesday's meeting and has filed a motion for Tuesday asking City Manager Bernie Lynch to update the council.

The terms of LMA Board of Trustees Chairman Jim O'Donnell Jr. and Trustee William Taupier expired in March 2011, while a vacancy was created when Leo Cloutier resigned from the veterans seat for health reasons in early March.

Elliott, who has accused Lynch of "playing politics" with the appointments, told The Column his primary concern is that Lynch is waiting to decide on whether to reappoint Taupier and O'Donnell until after they vote on a new management contract for the auditorium.

"He is using their holdover status as leverage to get support for the contract," Elliott said.

Lynch said Tuesday he planned to bring a new management contract with Global Spectrum to the council in two weeks and LMA appointments forward in two to three weeks. The manager was unavailable for additional comment Friday.

But Lynch said he isn't playing politics; it isn't his style, he said. He said still is seeking the best candidates.

As for the veterans slot on the board of trustees, The Column has learned Lynch wanted more names than the three veterans the Greater Lowell Veterans Council submitted for consideration after a membership vote on March 25.

Robert Page, public relations officer for the veterans council, said he can never remember a manager not wanting to appoint one of the three names the council submitted.

The original three names submitted to Lynch were former City Council candidate John MacDonald, former Greater Lowell Technical School Committee member Dave Laferriere and Richard Reault.

In mid-April Lynch asked Veterans Council Commander Bob White for other names.

White submitted as candidates Robert Page, John King, Thayer Eastman and John "Jack" Mitchell.

THE GRAND opening for UMass Lowell's $40 million Health and Social Sciences Building on Thursday was much like any other ceremony of the kind at the university in recent years: The chance for attendees to admire Chancellor Marty Meehan for his leadership.

"Everybody knows that this university is what it is today because of the cutting edge leadership of Chancellor Marty Meehan," Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lowell, said.

"In 40 years of having known you, this is the best and nicest ever," Meehan told Murphy.

AFTER PRAISED by UMass Lowell Vice Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney as the university's "bold and courageous" leader Meehan said had a bold proposition: The new Health and Social Sciences Building can be named after anyone who donates $5 million to the university.

IN ATTEMPTING to show the nation's unity following the Boston Marathon bombings, Secretary of State John Kerry served up this wild pitch to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday: "A couple of days ago, at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees posted the Boston Red Sox logo, and sang 'Sweet Adeline' at the end of the third inning, in a great tribute to the way America comes together."

Except that Sox fans join in Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" ... something you would expect you would expect a 35-year U.S. senator who has thrown out the first pitch at Fenway Park to know.

Kerry has whiffed before. A few years back he professed admiration of "Manny Ortez," a weird amalgam of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. (Kerry later corrected himself with ... "David Ortez.")

And he once cited his favorite Sox player as Eddie Yost, who never played a day in a Red Sox uniform.

Bumbling around with the region's summer obsession is nothing new. The late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy once butchered the names of home run stars Mark McGwire ("Mike McGwire") and Sammy Sosa ("Sammy Sooser"). And remember that AG Martha Coakley's ship sank faster than the 2011 season when she referred to Sox hero and Scott Brown backer Curt Schilling as "another Yankee fan." (We could list all of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's malaprops, but there isn't enough room.)

In a controversial ruling, Kenton-Walker said it was due to Guaman's "unique cultural background and his unique language." Guaman's native tongue is an Indian dialect known as Quecha.

Guaman has been living in this country since 2002, but he claims he is illiterate, can't speak English and can barely speak Spanish.

Kenton-Walker ordered the state to hire a Quecha interpreter because Guaman had no understanding of the legal system, despite being arrested in 2008 for assault and battery on a police officer and his ability to work construction.

Kenton-Walker also spent some time in Lowell Superior Court, issuing an eyebrow-raising sentence in the case of Joseph Sacramone.

Sacramone, 45, of Ayer, was found guilty in August 2012 of attempting to rape a 19-month-old child. Kenton-Walker sentenced Sacramone to 10 years probation with conditions, but no jail time.

At the time, Laurie Myers of Chelmsford, an advocate for victims' rights who has worked tirelessly to strengthen sentencing laws (including the recently passed Melissa's Law) and take the power to relax sentences away from judges, called Kenton-Walker's decision in the Sacramone case "judicial discretion at its worst."

MIDDLESEX CLERK of Courts Michael Sullivan and Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian are considered front-runners for interim Middlesex district attorney, but a dark-horse candidate is John Verner, Coakley's criminal chief.

Another name floating around is David Solet, chief of the DA's cyberprotection division.

A week ago, Gov. Deval Patrick named First Assistant District Attorney Michael Pelgro as interim DA following the departure of Gerard Leone. Pelgro is not a candidate for the interim position. The final choice remains with Patrick.

WILL CHELMSFORD officials' stance against additional liquor licenses stand up in court again?

In December, the Board of Selectmen denied a request by Triangle Store & Deli in North Chelmsford to convert to a liquor store.

The store, at the corner of Groton Road and Main Street, said enough demand exists in the area for more liquor sales.

Selectmen disagreed, saying nearby liquor stores already meet demand. Triangle has appealed to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, which will hold a hearing on May 22.

The board came to the same decision last October when it denied a request by Hannaford to be the first grocery store in town to sell beer and wine. Another application was rejected in 2010, from the Meat House butcher shop, which sought a beer and wine license.

That rejection was also appealed to the ABCC -- and the town won. ABCC commissioners stated that the most convincing argument set forth by the town "was the one of public need."

AFTER BILLERICA Selectmen Chairman David Gagliardi did not allow a resident to ask a question at a nonpublic hearing on Wednesday, Selectman Michael Rosa broke in. Rosa showed Gagliardi the board's policies and procedures, and Gagliardi reversed his decision.

"I was not aware of the policy," Gagliardi said. "It was an error on my part not knowing the policy and procedure."

Gagliardi allowed the resident to ask the question about the Town Meeting warrant article dealing with the Middlesex Turnpike project. The article asks to appropriate $1.18 million for the design and engineering of the third phase of the project, and the resident was confused, thinking it was $4 million for the project.

"That would be an awful lot for the design and engineering," Gagliardi said.

A Billerica political observer said it was "ridiculous" that Gagliardi wouldn't allow the "innocuous" question.

"He just didn't want to hear it," the observer said. "It was absurd."

Contributing to The Column this week Lyle Moran and Hiroko Sato in Lowell, Rick Sobey in Billerica, Grant Welker in Chelmsford, Lisa Redmond in the courts, and Managing Editor/Days Tom Zuppa.

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